Thread hijacking (i.e. don't use reply unless you are REALLY replying)

[Travis Newman]

On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 19:03:02 +0100, Magnus Therning <magnus at therning.org> wrote:
> FYI:
> 
> When starting a new thread don't just reply to a message sent by
> someone else and clear the subject line. Not all e-mail and news
> clients behave like yours and will thread messages correctly based on
> the "Message-ID:", "In-Reply-To:" and "References:" headers embedded in
> the messages. Only programs which don't comply with Internet standards
> sort messages by subject and call that "threading". When you simply
> change the subject of a message, all of the threading information
> remains intact and your new "thread" simply continues at the end of the
> old one. This is called thread hijacking.
> 
> By doing this, you're shooting yourself in the foot twice over. First
> of all, people following a thread don't want to see unrelated messages
> cropping up in the middle of it. The most complacent will just delete
> your message without reading it, others will killfile you, some having
> complained to you asking you to learn how to post. Secondly, those who
> aren't interested in the hijacked thread and who have set their
> programs to ignore it won't even see your message.
> 
> If you want to start a new thread then use your mailer's/newsreader's
> "New Message" function. This will start a fresh thread of your own
> without any traces of previous threads.
> 
> Taken from the page:
> 
> http://linux.sgms-centre.com/misc/netiquette.php
> 
> /M
> 
> --
> Magnus Therning                    (OpenPGP: 0xAB4DFBA4)
> magnus at therning.org
> http://magnus.therning.org/

Thanks for that, this is much needed on this list (and most every
other list known to man). You mention newsreaders in your post. Is
there a newsgroup set up that mirrors the list or something? I much
prefer mailing lists to newsgroups but that could come in handy at
times.